Chapter 10: Provinces, Praetors and Profits
CHAPTER 10 Provinces, Praetors and Profits 10.1 INTRODUCTION Chapters 8 and 9 go hand-in-hand. This chapter begins with a description of the provinces, and how clever players can use a provincial posting to secure wealth and glory for themselves. Governors (who may be Praetors, Propraetors, or Proconsuls) and their Quaestor assistants have some definite responsibilities when they are assigned to a province…but also substantial opportunities at amassing wealth through activities both legal and illegal. 10.2 LIST OF PROVINCES AND INCOMES The provinces of the Legacy of Sulla and their annual incomes are listed here: Hispania Ulterior 1,500,000 D Hispania Citerior 1,500,000 D Gallia Cisalpina 1,750,000 D Gallia Transalpina 1,250,000 D Sardinia et Corsica 1,000,000 D Sicilia 1,500,000 D Italia 4,000,000 D Illyricum 1,250,000 D Macedonia 1,750,000 D Asia 3,000,000 D Africa 750,000 D Achaea 1,500,000 D The client Kingdoms of the Republic are listed in the SOTR. 10.3 POSITION HAS ITS PRIVILEGES Provincial Praetors, Propraetors, Proconsuls, and even Quaestors may line their pockets at the expense of their province. This is done by tax skimming. Praetors, Propraetors, and Proconsuls may skim up to 20% of the provincial income, whereas Quaestors may skim only 10%. To skim, the governor or Quaestor must notify the Arbiter(s) of his intentions, giving what percentage of the provincial income is to be skimmed. Chances of being caught are twice that of the percentage skimmed – that is to say, if a provincial governor wants to skim the full twenty percent, there is a forty percent chance that he will be caught. Whether he is caught or not is decided by roll of a die. If successful, the appropriate amount is credited secretly to the skimmer‘s account. NOTE: this amount is NOT deducted from the income Rome receives – it is an additional tax, so to speak, upon the residents of the province. COOKING THE TREASURY\ PROVINCIAL BOOKS (QUAESTORS ONLY): If a PC is a Quaestor, he can choose to cook the books in order to either make some profit for himself or delete a debt of another for a fee. There will be a 5% risk of exposure to this action. SELLING THE ROMAN CITIZENSHIP: A Quaestor or a Praetor\Proconsul may wish to extend the right of the Roman citizenship to the provincials for a price (say 10,000 D per citizenship). There will be a 5% risk of exposure for the initial citizenship, that will increase by 2% with each new citizenship gifted in the period of the same year. The risk of the exposure will be rolled every year until the Censors decide to take a Census. After that, the threat of exposure is eliminated. EXEMPTING PEOPLE OR VILLAGES\TOWNS FROM TAXATION. If Quaestor, Praetor or Proconsul, you may decide that you wish to exclude a town, a city or an individual from taxation for a one-time sum. In the case of a city, the fee will be set at 500,000 D and will increase with the size of the city. In the case of an individual, the fee will be set at 10,000 D. The risk of exposure is set at 10%, increasing by 5% according to the number and size of cities or people you exclude from the taxation. This will also have a compound effect in any skim attempt, since you will burden the other towns to cover for the cities excluded anyway. 10.4 BUILDING LEGITIMATE WEALTH The provinces have agricultural regions which can be a source of both income and influence (see Chapter ). Quaestors can purchase land in their province during their term of office at a 10% discount; Praetors, Propraetors and Proconsuls can do so at a 25% discount. 10.5 PROVINCIAL MISHAPS Each province has the following categories of disaster and mishap that may befall it each quarter: 1) Slave Revolt 2) Native Rebellion Skimming is illegal. However… Skimming can be a potential source of income, and lots of it. How your character reconciles those two facts of life is up to you, but if you get caught, don‟t come crying to us! 3) Foreign Invasion 4) Drought 5) Flood 6) Disease The percentage chance that each category may occur is listed in the SOTR, and determined by the Arbiter(s) by considering factors such as taxation, number of auxiliaries in the field, etc.Rebellions/revolts negate both public and private income while in progress. Droughts decrease personal incomes by 50% and public income by 30% for the RL month. Floods decrease personal income by 50% and public income by 30% for one RL month. The next two months after a flood, however, will see increased personal income by 10%. Disease reduces all incomes by 10%. Popular rebellions transfer into 3000 light armored troops and 2000 unarmored troops. Slave revolts result in 2000 Light armored troops and 8000 unarmored troops. For each quarter that a revolt/rebellion goes unsuppressed, the number of troops in the field increase by 20%. After each victory of Roman or other organized forces, they may be granted a bonus of various troops (deserters or those who suLOSendered). Each of these categories‘ chance of occuLOSing can be reduced if proper actions are taken by the governor of the province: *Slave Revolt – Governors may manumit slaves in order to reduce the chance of revolt. For each 50,000 D of compensation given to slave owners, there will be a 1% reduction in chance of revolt. Maximum of 200,000 D can be spent per year. *Native Rebellion – Governors may provide debt relief to the inhabitants of his province. Each 50,000 D of relief reduces the chance of rebellion by 1%. Maximum of 200,000 D can be spent per year. *Foreign Invasion – Governors may provide local militia training at their own expense, thereby discouraging foreign invaders. Each 20,000 D spent reduces chance of invasion by 1%. However, too much training can make the inhabitants cocky, thus each 50,000 D spent increases rebellion chance by 1%. Maximum of 100,000 D can be spent each year. *Drought – Governors can expand the existence of wells, construct water tanks, and dig iLOSigation systems to help prevent drought. Wells cost 20,000 D, reduce chance of drought by 1%, and can only be built once a year. Water tanks cost 50,000 D, reduce chance of drought by 3%, and can only be built once. ILOSigation costs 100,000 D, reduces chance of drought by 5%, and can only be built once. *Flood – Governors can invest in levies to reduce the chance of flooding. One set of levies costs 25,000 D, reduces flooding by 1%, and can be built only 3 times a year. *Disease – Governors can install sewers and public baths to reduce the health risk of populated regions. Sewers cost 100,000 D, reduce chance of disease by 3%, and can only be built once a year. Aqueducts cost 250,000 D, reduce chance of disease by 10%, and can only be built once a year. All of the above take 2 quarters to complete. The percent risk of mishap can never fall below 3%. Upon completion of a negative event, a 20 sided die will be rolled by the Arbiters to determine the new risk percentage in that category. For every percent drop in risk, 2 points of Gravitas will be awarded to the Governor of the province, and 1 point of Gravitas will be awarded to the Quaestor of the province. The Urban Praetor will be considered the ‗governor‘ of Central Italia. The Senior Consul will be considered governor of North Italia, and the Junior Consul will be considered governor of South Italia. Only 1 category may be improved each quarter. Points gained from improvements are awarded as soon as the work is pledged and paid for, NOT upon completion. 10.6 DISASTERS AND DEPRESSED LAND PRICES There are definite negative consequences to land values in the event of an invasion, rebellion or slave uprising. As discussed earlier, delays of the non-manmade variety (floods, drought, disease) have a negative effect on agricultural production, and PC's who own farming estates in an effective province will see their revenues drop for that quarter. The sale price of the land itself, however, remains unaffected. Not so for manmade castrophies! In the event of a foreign invasion, native revolt or slave uprising, agricultural and mining profits drop off to zero. PC's can sell their land, but the unsettled chaotic nature of the crisis means that there will be few buyers. That means that prices drop, and players will see sharply lower prices when they try to sell their land when compared with more peaceful times. In the event of foreign invasion, native rebellion or slave revolt, PC's who attempt to sell off agricultural estates or mining interests will do so at a loss. They will receive only 80% of the normal (peacetime) price for said assets. PC's who attempt to speculate on misery may purchase land in provinces affected by war and tumult, and will be able to pick up the land at 90% of the normal price. This price is not the discount magistrates enjoy, but rather reflects the desire of most rational people to divest themselves of assets in war-torn areas, rather than snapping the land up. These discounts are accumulative with any quaestorial or praetorial discounts which also may be applicable for the province in question. 10.6.1 Disasters and Their Impact of the Food Supply All that farming going on has another purpose besides making money for the landowners…people need that food to stay alive! If enough provinces are suffering reduced (or zero) food production due to various types of disasters, the result can be turmoil in Rome, and even food riots. See Chapter 10 for an extended discussion on how we manage our food supply in LOS. 10.7 ACCOUNT SUMMARIES At the end of each game year, the Arbiter(s) shall tally up both the provincial incomes for the Republic as well as client incomes. Therefore, provincial governors are required to send the Arbiter(s) a fiscal report on their province no later than one week before the end of the game year. 10.7.1 Praetors’ Responsibilities PC‘s who are in charge of a province are responsible for making a report to the Senate (in the form of a posting or letter to the Senate) one (game) month before he is to leave the province. The report should contain the following items: Tax reports and financial earnings for Roma Farm reports to include drought and flood situations, and any damages and or improvements/repairs made. To include Currentand prospected status. Military Status to include numbers on aLOSival and numbers on exit, the level of experience/ability of these men Engagements-any fought battles with foreign or internal armies/rebels including Currentand prospective status Foreign status-Any diplomats received or hosted Praetors who fail to do so shall be penalized as follows: They shall be fined 10,000 D for every year of government in which they have not made a report. Interesting note: The above section was not a part of the original rules. It was, in fact, introduced into the rules as a result of a Senatus Consultum introduced by a PC during the course of gameplay (the Senatus Consultum Terentium Provinciae Romanorum, in fact). That’s one of the things which makes playing LOS so interesting. Not only do the Rules govern the Game, but the Game changes the Rules! 10.8 THE ROAD TO GLORY (OR DISASTER) The provincial government will be, of course, expected to maintain Roman Law and good order. It is understood that uprisings and slave revolts are to be dealt with harshly, and that the province must be defended against foreign invasion. In all these matters, the Praetor will have a great deal of latitude, particularly with respect to the disposal of captured goods and prisoners. In addition to wealth, this is a path to glory…those campaigns have a way of racking up influence points! (See Chapter 5). Invasions of or incursions into neighboring regions, are also a path to riches and glory, but a Praetor who manufactures and embarks upon a war of foreign conquest without the express authorization of the Senate could find himself in hot water…or perhaps not, if he is successful. It‘s an interesting dilemma. 10.9 DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES ABROAD We focus quite a bit on earning influence either through conquests abroad or by political activity at home. There is another way to earn influence, and that is through noteworthy diplomatic activity. A PC, acting on behalf of the Senate, can earn points of Gravitas for the following activities +1 Grav: Undertaking a Foreign Embassy (engaging in diplomatic negotiations), even if unsuccessful +4 Grav: Concluding a favorable trade agreement while on a foreign embassy mission. +5 Grav: Successfully negotiating a treaty whereby a foreign power supplies more than 2000 troops or 5 ships to fight on Rome's behalf. (securing less than this amount earns but +2 Gravitas.) +10 Grav: Cementing an alliance which significantly alters the balance of power in Rome's favor. +10 Grav: Signing a treaty which results in a foreign power declaring war on an enemy of Rome. +10 Grav: Signing a peace treaty ending a war on terms either neutral or slightly favorable to Rome. Take advantage of your time abroad! Life in the provinces can be the source of some very interesting storylines. It can be a source of wealth (from both legitimate and illegitimate activities). It can be the source of military glory (and resulting influence) and riches. Be sure you understand how a provincial assignment can benefit you, and take advantage of it! +20 Grav: Signing a peace treaty ending a war on terms lop-sidedly favorable to Rome. -5 Grav: Signing a peace treaty on neutral to unvavorable terms for Rome. -15 Grav: Signing a peace treaty on decidedly unfavorable terms for Rome. The people, alas, care little about foreign affairs, and their inattentiveness to diplomacy means there isn't much to be gained by it, as far as they're concerned. The Legacy of Sulla © Copyright 2011 Jim Sebastian